Meera Sanyal is the former Chief Executive Officer & chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India.
Background
The daughter of a highly decorated Naval officer, late Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani, she was involved in banking for over 30 years before stepping down from RBS to stand as the Aam Aadmi Party candidate in South Mumbai in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, which she lost.
Education
Sanyal graduated in commerce (Bachelor of Commerce) from Sydenham college Mumbai in 1982 with an Master of Business Administration from European Institute of Business Administration (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires), France in 1983 and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2006.
Career
She had earlier contested as an independent candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai South constituency. She serves as a non-executive Director on the board of Pradan an Indian non-governmental organization that works to empower women through entrepreneurship and on the International Board of Right to Play, a global organisation that has helped over 1 million children through the transformative power of play. She is also on the Board of Jaihind College and the Indian Liberal Group.
She is the former Chairperson of the Indian Advisory Board of International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences, the world"s largest student organisation.
Her father was the mastermind of Operation Trident, the crippling Naval attack on Karachi, Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (United Kingdom).
After a 30 year banking career, Sanyal stepped down from her position as Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of Royal Bank of Scotland India, in 2013, to focus on public service. During her time at the bank, Meera mentored the MicroFinance program, which financed over 650,000 women in rural India.
She also chaired the bank"s Foundation, providing livelihood assistance to 75,000 women-led households in threatened ecosystems.
Her banking career was distinguished both in India and overseas. She was the Head of Corporate Finance and later the chief operating officer for Algemene Bank Nederland AMRO in Asia. She also started and led the global BPO and ITes for Algemene Bank Nederland AMRO / RBS in India.
In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, invited her as the sole Indian representative on her International Council on Women"s Business Leadership.
She has been invited to speak at global seminars such as:
Climate Summit in Copenhagen;
Swedish Agency for Economic & Regional Growth
Women of the Future summit in the United Kingdom
Asian Institute of Finance, Kuala Lumpur
Nikkei Summit for Asian Women Leaders, Tokyo
Global Competitiveness Summit, Seoul, of Korea
The daughter of Admiral Hiranandani, a highly decorated naval officer, Sanyal stood in 2009 as an independent candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks but lost the election. In May 2014, Sanyal contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai South constituency, as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate.
Membership
She is a member of various national Committees at the CII and FICCI. Meera is also a Board member of LiberalsIndia for Good Governance – the Indian Liberal Group, and serves on the Supervisory Board of Jaihind College. She is a member of various National Committees of both FICCI and CII. She is a member of Alumni Admissions Program"s National Committee on Economic Policy.